Parish Council Accounting Advice
The purpose of a statement of accounts is the provide useful financial information about the council to its stakeholders, including central government and local taxpayers. To achieve this, the information in the accounts must be relevant, complete, and free from bias or error. Arlingclose helps its clients to prepare accounts meeting these criteria.
Smaller authorities generally complete section 2 of the annual return as their statement of accounts, following the guidance in the latest JPAG Practitioners’ Guide. We assist our clients in interpreting the guidance in any areas of difficulty, including measuring debtors and creditors and the treatment of long-term investments and long-term borrowing.
Full audit authorities prepare a more detailed statement of accounts under either FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland or the CIPFA/LASAAC Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the UK. The Arlingclose technical team is well versed in both accounting frameworks with its members experienced in various public and private sector organisations as well as external auditors.
We operate a telephone and email helpline for all accounting queries and run training sessions each March in the run-up to financial year end.
We also provide a valuation service for investment and borrowings to ensure clients disclose the correct figures for these transactions in their accounts.